Fleeing Adventures
by Jupsi
Summary: What happens when you put an average blader in a life-or-death situation, and she has to make a choice that will change her life totally? Together with a seasoned blader they will face fun time, tough times, and maybe a few sweet times? On hiatus
1. Chapter 1

Rated for language, and some fluff later on. No lemons though!

So this is my first written story. Ever – Please help me improve by giving me some advice on what points of my writing i should keep, and which I shouldn't; I'd appreciate it a lot :)  
I'll be saving the A/N for the bottom of the document though. Onward! :D

"normal" = Talking

'_italic' _= Thinking

* * *

"_Bey City east station."_

A crowd of people streamed out of the train and within that crowd was a girl with unusually light-blue hair and aqua-marine coloured eyes. She was in a hurry, because it was getting dark and her dad had expected her to be home long time ago.

'_I'll take the shortcut through the alleys home'_ she thought to herself. She ran down the back alleys and soon found herself in the maze she knew so well. Quick as a cat she ran through back alleys of East Bey City, and ended up in a backyard she couldn't recognize. There she saw a gang of boys standing in a circle, looking at something on the ground.  
_'Strange'_ she thought, _'it looks like they're doing something with it'_. It wasn't until a moment later that she realised that _the thing_ she had seen on the ground wasn't a thing – it was a boy! Without thinking, she rushed head-on into the situation, yelling whatever was on her mind at the boys; which was something in the way of "GET OFF OF HIM!".  
Her sudden appearance sent a slight shock through the boys, as they began looking at each other, and that was enough time for her to get a good look at who she was actually trying to save. She looked down at him, and their eyes met for a few seconds. She found herself staring deeply into his raven-coloured orbs that hold a power she couldn't quite identify. Before she knew it, the boys had drawn their blades and were ready to take her down. She hastily set up her black blade for launch, and after a few seconds, blades were hitting the ground and taking off like rockets. The boys' 4 blades were making a beeline to her blade, and the only counter she could think of was what she did the best – fend them off with a solid defence, coated with a bit of luck on the top. The blades ganged up on her, and before she knew it, they were all around her, slamming her from every side. After what seemed like an hour to her, they began closing in for the final attack, right until another orange blade mingled with the others and began to make some room between them and the black blade.

A slightly annoyed voice cut through the noises from their beyblades.  
"Four against one is hardly any fair, is it? Seems like I'll have to even things up a bit."

That being said, the orange and black blade was standing side by side to fend off the four gang members blades, but after a few minutes of blades grinding against each other, the difference in number was beginning to show. Orange and black blade alike was wobbling and almost down for the count, when suddenly the sky turned black, soon followed by a bright flash that lit the pitch-black sky for a split second. A furious growl resonated, sending shockwaves through the air and the bladers' bodies. Another flash of light came, and this time something that looked like white bundle of flames soared through the air, and once it was over the competitors' heads, it began dropping at a breakneck pace. Just before it hit the ground it changed its course slightly, and hit the wobbling black blade. At the same time her blade began glowing, a tickling sensation began to form in the back of her mind. _'Something'_, she thought, _'Something is trying to tell me something. But what?'_  
Then realising what had just happened, she looked at the boy at her side for advice; she didn't know why she did it – she simply did! Then, a faint smile appeared on the beaten boys face. When he opened his mouth, the only thing she heard before it was closed again was "Let's do this!"

The boy seemed to be summoning his last ounce of strength, and she mimicked him, thinking he probably had some sort of plan. When they both were ready, he set for the four blades in a beeline, and she was right behind him. When he had almost reached them, he suddenly laid his head back and screamed something she couldn't quite make out. _'Sophia? Why would he yell that name at a time like this?'_  
The next few things happened too fast for her to really grasp what happened.

His blade's bitchip began glowing, and then a light rose from it. That was strange enough, but what was even stranger was that her own blade mimicked his, and the same strange light shot up from the middle of her black blade. A joint army of animals, consisting of an overgrown fox and something that looked like a turtle – but with a spikey shell – rushed straight towards the four gang members' blades.  
"Fiery Rush!" The orange blade began to glow with a weird, red-ish light and started picking up speed. When it made contact with the first blade, it instantly threw it in the air, heading for the next one, while the aqua-marine eyed blader took out one on her own. Once all four of their blades were down and somewhat trashed, the raven-haired boy made to get out of there.  
"Come on, let's ditch this place."

* * *

After a while they had reached the park where the beydish were at, and they sat down on the swings.

The blunette was the first to break the silence:  
"That sure was something, huh? I thought we were done for back there. What happened? And... Who are you?"  
The raven-haired boy looked at her and was silent for a few moments before he started speaking.  
"That was my bitbeast – and you got one too. You should've noticed the picture on your bitchip. Whatever is in that picture is your personal bitbeast. I don't know why it chose you, or how it found you, but one thing is for sure: Without the proper training, you won't be able to control and use it at all." The black-eyed blader locked eyes with the blue-eyed and continued: "And I'm Nanji. You?"

'_Damn, I forgot to introduce myself! How embarrassing is that?'_ A little flustered at this sudden realisation, she fumbled with the words she was trying to produce. "Erm, I'm Ri.. – ehh, Marina. I'm Marina!" The last statement came out a little louder than intended, and this just made her already forming blush to deepen a bit. Nanji looked her over and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of this seemingly goofy girl.  
"Glad to make your acquaintance" was all he replied. "Maybe you should head home. I'm sure your parents are worried about you being out so late."  
Marina tilted her head slightly to the side when she asked "What about you? Your parents must be worried too..." But at this Nanji just laughed and shook his head mildly. "Naah, my grandpa knows I'm alright. But yeah, he is gonna give me a lecture about discipline and the priority of the family". He rolled his eyes at the thought of the oncoming night. But the blunette kept going.  
"You live alone with your grandpa? Where?"  
The spikey-haired boy looked a little curious at her, but after a moment he replied. "Just outside of town – In the old house with the huge garden. Now go home, I don't want the blame for keeping you out this late!"  
She couldn't help but giggle at the thought running through her head. _'He worries about my situation. How nice...'_  
"Okay!" was the only thing she said though. Jumping down from the swing and running a few meters before turning around and looking at him she yelled: "I'll see you around!" With that, she ran out of sight, and left the raven-haired boy to his thoughts. _'I Wonder who she was. Oh well, chance is that I won't see her again..."_ and with that in mind, he too turned towards the outskirts of the city.

* * *

**A/N:** I know its a little short... The next chappies will be longer, I promise! XD

Okay people, thats the first chapter! Please do give me some feedback and constructive pointers. Even a "Nice story, hoping to see more" will be very appreciated, since I have zero idea about how many actually reads this ^_^;

Anyway, throw me a PM, review, whatever you feel like, and tell me if you maybe would like to get a sneak peak on the upcoming chapters – at the cost of correcting some few mistakes and if there's a problem with the understand-ability – is that even a word? :S Now it is! Understandability! And also, if anyone has some ideas, feel free to tell me, and I'll see if I can incorporate them in the story! :) It needs to be said though, that I have the first 6 chapters or so roughly drawn out. Still, inputs are always nice, and it might help me think of something good! :P

I'll see if I can do chapter 2 fairly fast, so you guys can get a feeling of where I actually want this to go. The main plot is revealed in the next chapter, so stay tuned! :D

Also on a sidenote, if you guys out there want to know more about me, tell me on a review or PM and i'll add some entertainment regarding myself as a person and writer in the bottom of the A/N :) Help me by giving me some questions i can answer, and if you guys tell me to, i'll make some myself too! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 is here at last! :D I dunno how long this took me to write.. I can only hope for about a weeks time.. xD I know this wasn't very action-filled or anything, but it was necessary for the next chapters, so NOW I can begin to explore the art of writing action – and trust me, the action starts already in the next little chappie, so look forward to it!  
Also, please Review with comments, pointers, or questions. Im a very open person! ^_^  
A/N at the bottom – Read on fellas! :D

Marina was walking near the park quietly, when she spotted something out of the corner of eye.

'_Isn't that the guy I met yesterday bleyding down there?'_

She turned her head to get a proper look on him.

'_It IS that guy! How lucky of me to find him here!'_ "Hey, Nanji! What are you doing? Got a minute?"

Every single pair of eyes nearby looked at her. Including Nanji's. Once again she found herself drowning in those dark, assuring eyes. When she had snapped out of the trance-like state, she saw Nanji running up to her.

"What's up?" He asked.

She hastily looked down so she wouldn't get caught in his eyes again, and replied.

"Oh, not much… Just wondering if you could do me a favour… Remember what you said about how I need to learn to control my bitbeast?"

It was more of a rhetorical statement than a question, so the raven-haired boy let her continue without feeling the need to answer.

"I thought that maybe you could teach me how to control it? Since you already have one, and seem to be able to control it well, I thought it would be a good idea…"

Nanji's eyes wavered a little, and he found himself shuffling his feet.

'_Dammit, why can't I just say no and reject her? Get it over with!'_ "I don't think it's such a good idea…"

"But why not? You're such a good blaider, and…" She was cut off before she had time to say anything else.

Nanji, with a slightly red face, hurriedly replied

"A no is a no! Stop bugging me and go home already! I don't want you, or anyone else, to ask me for help and advice!" With that he turned around and began to walk towards the outskirts of town.

Meanwhile, a war of thoughts and emotions raged inside Marina's head.

'_Aww man, I blew it… Hey, I can't be discouraged now! I'll just have to get my point clear and keep trying! But what if he gets annoyed with me and refuses to ever see me then? Grr, what should I do? Okay, I'll just follow him quietly for now…'_

And she did. Or, at least she tried. Maybe she wasn't such a good spy as she had hoped to be. But Nanji let her play her game, so even when he spotted her, he didn't say a thing.

Nanji sighed. _'She'll get over it in no time and stop bugging me. It's always like that. Still, why did I even hesitate? It's not like it's the first time that kinda thing happened…'_

Nanji's head was a mess of thoughts, and he hardly even noticed that he had walked all the way home, nor did he notice the fact that the blue-haired girl was still following him. He went straight for the big, park-like back garden of his grandpa's house, jumped up in a tree, and shifted his position so he could sit there comfortably and get a little shut-eye.

Marina was still on to him, and she had begun to feel uneasy when she had trespassed the property, but she knew she had to gamble some if she wanted to convince him. Question was, which gambles should she take? She snuck into the garden where she had seen the raven-haired boy go, and sought for cover in a big, messy bush. After having taken a decent position, she realized that she had a pretty good viewpoint of the garden from there, and began to search for her target of stalking. She was pleased when she found him sound asleep in a tree not too far away from her bush, and she began to think about what she would do next. It didn't take long for her to get distracted though. She just couldn't keep her stare away from the boy, and as she sat there with plenty of time and in deep concentration, she noticed his somewhat bizarre choice of cloth. His outfit consisted of an orange T-shirt, half covered in a dark-gray shirt that went from his left shoulder to his right waist, so it kept his right arm and side free and unhindered.

'_It kinda reminds me of those old, roman togas… Just shorter.'_ She stifled a giggle at the thought.

Moving her eyes further down to his pants, she realized, much to her disappointment, that they were awfully normal. Dark, semi-baggy pants that was tied to his waist, which also provided maximum maneuverability. His shoes were white with blue stripes down the sides.

A sound not too far away from her snapped her out of it, and she quickly duck a little deeper into the bush, as to not get found out. What she saw was an old man – _'probably in his sixties'_ she judged. He turned towards the tree in which Nanji was napping, and yelled with a strength in his voice Marina didn't think possible for one in his age.

"Are you out here napping again? How many times have I told you to let me know when you get home?" he barked. When he turned to go in, he cast a knowing eye towards the bush that a certain blunette was covering in.

'_Shit, has he seen me? But there's no way he could… I haven't made a sound while he was here!'_ The seed of worry in her stomach that had been planted when she entered their property was growing, and she suddenly felt a little bad.

Turning her attention to the mystic blaider, she realized that she couldn't find him.

'_Oh damn it all! Where has he gone now?'_ But before she could find out, a hand grabbed her collar and yanked her out of the bush.

"You're not very good at hiding, d'you know that?" A slightly amused voice said.

Marina could feel her face blush badly, and when she looked up to see who had caught her, aqua-marine eyes locked with a set of dark ones, and she felt a wave of shame come crashing upon her like a tidal wave.

The voice that had been amused before now turned surprisingly hard and cold as he continued.

"And just what are you up to in my garden? It's hardly a coincidence that I find you in a bush like this?"

Marina knew he had meant it to be rhetorical, but she couldn't help trying to defend herself, though before she even began he had already cut her off.

"If you think that I'm going to teach you, you better give up and save your time for something worthwhile. The chance of me taking you under my wing…" Before he got to finish his sentence, his grandpa, who had come out to check after him, cut him off.

"Oh, a guest, is it? Why didn't you tell me you had a friend visiting you? Please, come in and get a cup of tea." He gestured for them to follow him.

"…has just increased slightly…" The dark-eyed blaider finished. With a sigh, he made to follow his grandpa, but just before he went in he turned around and asked

"Are you coming or what?" With that, he went inside.

Marina needn't to be told twice, and she hurried to the door which was held open by Nanji.

The grandpa seated the two youngsters on one side of the table, and himself on the other side, so he could get a good look on both of them. That also meant that the table, which was meant as a two-man table, was slightly cramped on the blaiders' side. Marina wasn't entirely sure if this was a bad thing; this way she got to be that much closer to him, which she enjoyed. There was something about him that attracted her. Maybe it was the fact that he seemed to be such a hard knock – but really soft on the insides. Or maybe it was his gentleman-ness that he tried to hide so much? She didn't really know, and she didn't really care. Her focus was moved to Nanji's grandpa when he began asking her questions.

"So, what do you do in your free time, young girl?" He was smiling warmly at Marina, who felt the welcome and happiness radiating from the old man.

"I beyblade a lot!" She said with a sheepish grin

"Oh, the game with the spinning tops that Nan-chan also plays all the time? Maybe the two of you can play together sometime. Your always welcome here if you feel like it." He was still smiling brightly at her, and she truly felt welcome. That was, until the boy next to her stood up suddenly.

'_He looked pretty angry'_ she thought, wondering what could have made him so angry all of a sudden.

"Stop calling me that! I do NOT want to hear it, and especially not from you!" With that he turned and stormed out of the room.

"Oh my, it looks like I did it again. Please, go and calm him down. I think you'll do better than an old man like me…"

Seeing the worried features on the old man's face, the blue-haired blaider simply couldn't turn him down. Besides, if she wanted Nanji to teach her she would have to do something for him too, right? Right, that was why. At least, that's what she told herself.

She found him in the tree he had been snoozing in earlier that day. He had his eyes shut, but she somehow knew he wasn't sleeping, and she was sure he knew she was there.

"Ehm…" She started. But she realized there was nothing for her to say, so instead she just shut her mouth and sat at the trunk of the tree, with her head on her knees and muttered a "sorry".

They both sat like that, without uttering a word for a while. After some time though, Nanji decided to break the ice.

"It's not your fault anyway. He knows I hate that nickname. It makes me feel like a little child…" His voice wasn't raised, nor did it sound angry. He was simply stating the facts, as if he wasn't even talking to her in the first place. It took some of the weight she had felt upon her shoulders off of her, but she still wasn't quite satisfied yet.

"Am I a bother to you? I just want to learn to be a better blaider. And I'd also like to know you better. You seem nice…" Her voice was muffled by her arms that were hugging her own legs.

Again, the raven-haired boy took his time to think about it and answer.

"I just don't want to waste my time on some half-assed kid who doesn't stick around when she finds out it takes sweat and blood to master the bitbeast." He said indifferently.

"But I suppose since u have been chosen by a beast, you might not be like that… Guess only time will tell, won't it? But mark my words, I expect total obedience, and you to give it a 110%. If not, you don't have to come here anymore…" His voice didn't reveal any hint of emotion.

Marina, not fully understanding what he just had said, just sat there, not really bothering to figure out what he had said. Until it struck her.

"What? You're willing to help me?" Her eyes were wide and glazed with tears of joy. "I'll be here as soon as I get out of school then. Oh, and by the way… What is your beast called? It's a fox, right?"

"Yeah, it's a fox alright… And her name's Sinopa…"  
_'Sinopa! That was what he yelled in our last battle! It wasn't a girl he was calling for, it was his beast! How could I have been so stupid?' _She felt a surge of hope flood through her. _'Yatta~'_ She was smiling widely now, and before Nanji could ask her what was up, she had stood up and made a ran for the street.

"See ya tomorrow" she yelled over her shoulder, just before turning around the corner and going out of the dark-eyed blaiders sight.

A certain spikey-haired blaider was lying in his bed, trying to get some sleep before dawn came. But just as much as he wanted to sleep, just as much couldn't he forget the girl he had spent the most of the day with. Her image was as printed to the inside of his eyelids, and he couldn't help but go it through, detail for detail.

'_Something,'_ he thought, _'Something is different with this girl. She's not like the others…'_

He wanted to know what made her so different. _'Her visuals? Naah… She's pretty, but not stunningly gorgeous… Her outfit? It seemed kinda normal…'_ Again, he visualized her image in his head.

'_Light-blue T-shirt… Mostly-white jacket which had been left open… Dark-blue shorts that wasn't very baggy, yet not tight…'_ No matter how much he thought about it, he simply couldn't come up with a satisfying answer, so he left it, rolled over, and finally fell asleep.

**A/N:** So yeah, I promised you guys it would be longer… and I guess it is..at least a little.. xD I hope to be able to keep this improvement up, so in no time flat I'll have some nice, lengthy updates for your entertainment! :D  
And hey, bear over with me, I got a few tests this week, so I should be occupied with those… _ Ehm.. right.. None of you said if u'd like to know some funny random facts about me, so I guess I'll save it for the next chappie.. :) Erhm… yeah.. How do you guys like the characters? Not enough info on them? Too much? Tell me what your oninion is, from the amount of details to the overall setting – it's very encouraging to get just the smallest comment on my work! ^_^

Right, I'll get myself a well-deserved rest… Got test tomorrow, and its close to midnight, so… yeah.. I dunno when the next one's oout, but I'd go ahead and dare say a week.. give and take a few days.. ;) See ya around folks! :D


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Yihaa, another week, another chappie! :D And this week, it's loaded with goodies! It's longer than last week, there's more action overall, and even a little surprise for you guys! ;)

I've been talking about doing a little rant here in the A/N, and I will be doing it in the end of each chapter, so those of you who's not interested can easily skip it.  
I still have my offer of one of you guys doing a little [Fun corner] at the end of every A/N, to give spice it all up! And if you wanna try it, you can just do it for 1 or 2 chapters and see if it's something you would wanna continue :P  
Please do Rate and Review – Every review is like opening a gift for Christmas!  
For now, random stuff at the bottom of the blipidee-blop, and story here: Enjoy!

* * *

The black-haired blaider was taking a nap in his usual tree when he was woken up by a pair of yelling voices.

"Come on Tiff, what are you stalling for? He doesn't bite, you know… he just looks like that." Nanji could hear a giggle at the remark, but didn't think much about it.

'_Sigh… Girls…'_ he thought to himself.

The voices was getting louder now.

"C'mon, it's just around the corner! I promised him I would get there as soon as I was out of school"

"But is it really okay to ditch the last 2 lessons because of this?" A second voice asked

The now drowsy boy thought there was something recognizable about the first voice he had heard.

'_Wait… isn't that..?'_ before he could finish his inner conversation, a blue-haired girl entered the garden with a blonde following close behind her.

Nanji decided it was time to get some answers, and therefore he jumped down from his tree and looked at his new apprentice blaider.

"And who might this be?" He made sure to sound unimpressed and sceptic; he wouldn't want the blunette to get the better of him on the first day of training and make her think she was special. The aqua-marine eyed blaider just grinned sheepishly and proudly introduced her.

"Nan, this is my best friend, Tiffany. She's also a good blaider, so I thought I'd bring her along for some practice!"

The boy raised one of his eyebrows and looked down on the girl before him.

"And who gave you permission to give me such a nickname?" There was a dangerous undertone to his voice. By this time, Marina's confidence was dropping by the second. Her eyes wavered from his when she finally replied.

"Erm, well, I thought it sounded nice… And it feels good to say, know what I mean? Besides, isn't it fine with a nickname?" Her voice was slightly shaking with nervousity.

"I think Nan sounds like a great nickname!" both teens now turned their heads towards the blonde who had chosen to come to her friends rescue, however, where Marina's eyes sparkled with unspoken gratitude for her action, Nanji's only showed little annoyance.

"Tsk, whatever… Just get on with the practice." He turned his back to them and climbed up the tree.

This was the source of great confusion to Marina.

"But… aren't you gonna teach us?" She asked, confusion clearly present in her voice.

"Not until you get a grasp of it. I can't teach you as long as you have zero idea what-so-ever. You need to discover how to crawl before I teach you how to walk, so to speak." His eyes were closed, a straw was hanging from the corner of his mouth, and a clear look of bliss and satisfaction was set on his face.

Marina couldn't help but look at him in awe.

'_He looks so beautiful when he's relaxing'_ she thought to herself. A small sigh escaped her mouth, and this was misinterpreted by her friend who thought she was ready to give up.

"Come on, we'll get you a grasp of it! We can do it!" A bright smile appeared on Tiffany's face.

"Okay, let's get to work!" the blunette replied with a smile of her own.

* * *

A certain grandpa was on his way out to the back of the property when he heard joint voices yell a phrase he had grown to love so much.

"**Let it rip!**" He could clearly tell it to be two girls' voices, but he was sure his boy was with them. '_One way or another, at least'_ he thought to himself, as he continued to listen for a bit.

The sounds of those spinning tops grinding against each other, combined with laughter and cheering each other on, made him calm in a special way.

'_Now __that__ is the sound of friendship and fun… Ah well, maybe I should let Nan-chan off the hook this time. I suppose he could do with a day off, anyway…'_ So in the end he turned to walk in again.

* * *

Up around the afternoon the girls took a well-deserved break, and they dumped down on the ground, exhausted from the countless hours of ongoing practice they had just been doing.

"Wow, we're getting better, aren't we?" the blonde asked happily with a broad smile on her face.

"Yeah, that one time I really thought I could summon my bitbeast…" Marina replied, a little disappointed she had let the chance slip away from her. "I mean, it felt just like the time that I got it. That weird tingling sensation in the back of the head; it's really wird…" Her shoulders slumped slightly.

Tiffany began to rise from the trunk she had been leaning against.

"Tiff?" Marina tilted her head slightly at her friend.

"C'mon, we'll get it this time!" She said encouragingly.

Now Marina also rose from her sitting position, and they took their stances up again. After they had launched, four strange beyblades were all around them, cornering them up. Marina quickly recognized them as the four thug's blades. In a split second, Nanji's orange blade come to the girls' rescue. After they had ganged up on him and taken him out, they neared in on the girls, who was about to get snared in a circle again, when Marina felt a funny feeling in the back of her head.

'_This is it!' _she thought, _'this is how it felt last time I could summon the strength of my beast!'_ So, putting all her effort into it, she began pulling at the sensation. It didn't take long before she felt a stream of energy flow out from a hidden chamber in her body, and with this newly acquired strength, she could call forth her partner. The chip of her blade began to shine brightly, and a cone of light shot up from it. Then, as if in slow-motion, a giant, black, spike-shelled turtle rose from the blade. Marina was completely paralyzed with awe as she was watching the beast climb up and out, until it was finally floating a few feet above the blade. A serious voice freed her of the paralysis, as if it was a spell being lifted.

"Rina, call out its special attack!" Nanji's voice made her nervous and frightened.

"But I don't know its special attack!" she whimpered, shame audible in her voice.

Then, out of nowhere, she was struck with insight. _'Oh, I see! Yes, that has got to be it!'_ And without thinking more about it, she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Tamonki - Spiked Defense!"

Suddenly the turtle began charging the others on two legs. Once it was within the distance of close combat, it dropped itself on the blades, with the back of its shell facing down. A crispy sound of something breaking told them that the blades were in a miserable condition. The four bad guy realized this too, because they instantly dropped their guard and went with what seemed to be a "plan B".

Instead, they turned their full focus to Marina, who was pretty exhausted from summoning, and controlling, such power as a bitbeast. One of the guys looked casually on her.

"By the way, we have greetings from your father… He doesn't you to get into messy situations like these." His eyes turned crazy, and Marina was sure he had lost it. However, she understood his little hint, and her eyes widened at the thought of what they could've done to him.

"What have you done to my dad? He hasn't done anything bad to you! Don't make him involved in this!" she screamed with a slightly panicked voice.

"Hehehe, I guess that's a little late now, isn't it? But it was his own fault – you see, we asked him a single question, which he denied to answer; so, naturally we had to… push him around a little… But then we found your little note, and that explained it all…" A wicked grin spread across his face

Marina had turned pale long ago, and she was mentally cursing herself for writing it… she had just told her dad where she was spending the day – that was all! She had no idea that could bring him in such a situation!

Apparently tired of beating around the bush, Nanji cut the conversation in half and asked bluntly,

"What are you doing here anyway? I doubt you came to just chat…" His face was emotionless, but he couldn't quite mask his curiosity.

It was then the whole world seemed to stop in time. The thug who had been the "leader" of the little group smiled knowingly at him and said,

"in a week the 7 executives of DBA will get here to take care of you and your little friend here; you see, in their eyes, you guys are a threat to their security, and they rather take you out now while you're still weak than wait 'til you're able to carry out the threat. Simple as that. We just thought we'd give you a little warning, so you can twist in agony at our feet, begging us to tell them to go away. But we won't!" Again, the wicked smile spread even further out across his face, "we're out of here. C'mon boys!"

They turned and walked out of the garden. Tiffany was just about to say something witty to the raven-haired blaider, but the sight she met stopped her in her tracks. He was paralyzed. And she was pretty sure she could see fear in his eyes, too. In either case, his pale face told the tale, and there was no doubt in her mind whatever they had meant was bad. Really bad. After a moment of confused silence, the dark-eyed blaider uttered a single word.

"…Shit…"

Whatever he was thinking was a mystery for the girls, but it only took Nanji a minute to get control of the situation, however hectic it might be.

Nanji's mind was running so fast it was about to overload, but he kept on pushing it to the limit, and beyond. He knew the next steps would be crucial for anything else they had to do.

"Rina, you go home and check up on your dad. Make sure he's gonna be okay, then tell him the current situation; you will have to pack cloth and remedies for 2 weeks of traveling – and take only the most necessary stuff with you. No phone either. Then come back here, and we'll figure out where we'll head first."

He turned his attention towards the green-eyed blonde who had been all ears the whole time.

"And you, Tiffany, will go home with Marina and make sure she doesn't pack unnecessary stuff. Say your goodbyes too, 'cus you're gonna have to cut all ties with her for the next period of time. Keep practicing your beyblade skills, because we might need some help in the future, and I'd like to rely on you to have our back."

Tiffany inclined her head, clearly used to taking orders without questioning them. However, there was one thing he had said that nagged her conscience.

"Exactly how long is this 'period of time'?" She asked, not completely happy with the way he had said it. She had a fairly good guess what his reply would be like, but she knew she had to ask.

Nanji sighed. He had hoped this exact question wouldn't be asked, but he also knew he couldn't lie and had to play with open cards.

"I don't know. But until we are ready to take them on. Somewhere between a month and half a year, I would guess…" he stated it as a fact, and tried not to look the blunette in her eyes. He knew what he would see if he did so, and he didn't think he could cope with that at the time being.

The green-eyed blaider understood the difficulty of the situation, and decided she'd help the raven-haired boy with it instead of working against him.

'_He knows what he's doing, and he isn't the type to take advantage of a girl when they're alone'_ she thought. Yes, the best choice was indeed to help him out and make this go as smoothly as possible.

"Okay, that's just dandy. Come on Rii, we've gotta go check up on your dad and get your stuff packed."

She took Marina's hand and began to lead her towards the gate to the street. Right then a thought struck her, and she turned around to look at male blaider they had left behind.

"And of course I'll have your backs when the time comes. You just need to tell me when and where! And when that time comes, I'll be just as good as you guys! Count on it!"

* * *

With that she turned towards the street, and together with Marina she headed for the town.

It hadn't taken long for the girls to reach Marina's house, and when they did the blunette stormed in just to find her dad sitting in a chair with some ice on his chin. He smiled when he saw her unharmed and okay, and once she was done fussing about him, both girls quickly went to her room to get her packed. They had understood the importance of being fast, so getting packed didn't take that long for the two girls. It was the farewell that took some time.

"…but it's not like it's going to be forever; just a month or two" the blonde tried her best to keep her friend's spirits high. However, it didn't seem to work very well, and so, the green-eyed blaider decided to take another point of view.

"Just think about it…" she said suggestively, "you're going to spend a few months together with a fairly hot boy – alone!"

Marina blushed heavily at the suggestive words, but hastily denied her friend's suspicions, also partly to assure herself that such things wouldn't happen. But secretly, the thought of spending so much time together alone did make her a little giddy inside. Living with a boy, alone, for a few months? It sounded too good to be true!

'_Then again,'_ she reminded herself, _'we are not just "living together"… It is supposed to be a training camp…'_ she mentally cursed herself for even thinking of having cuddly moments with him. She knew he wasn't a fan of such things.

When they had finally done their hugging and chatting, Marina forced herself to make her way back to the cottage at the outskirts of town, taking in everything as she passed by them.

'_So many memories… This,'_ she looked at the park across the street, _'is where I learned to blade and got loads of friends – including Tiffy.'_ She mentally sighed at the thought.  
_'And this is the shop where I once tried to steal a candy bar… and got caught red-handen.'_ She laughed at her own stupidity. It all seemed so distant to her now; like she was watching someone else's memories. After what seemed like hours she finally reached the little cottage with the giant backyard. She found Nanji waiting for her, and he seemed to have regained his composure. What amazed her the most was, he didn't even look like he minded leaving the place – even if it was for such a long time! He helped her in with her traveling rucksack, and soon she was settled in his room for the night. Their plan was to figure out whatever their first step should be, get some rest, and then head out tomorrow morning.

'_I even get to sleep over at his place'_ she giggled to herself in a girly manner. The boy hosting her found a futon for her to sleep on, and then he rolled out a map of the region on his desk so they could discuss the route they wanted to take. The raven-haired boy stressed that they stay out of cities and most civilized parts, so as to not get tracked down by the underground organization that was chasing them.

After a little while of planning, the boys grandpa came in with some tea for them to enjoy, he saw the futon on the floor, and got a sense of pride for having disciplined his grandson so much that he would actually give his bed to the girl, and take a futon for himself. Feeling the need to praise him for doing so, he voiced his thoughts, and both teens gave him a confused stare.

"You misunderstand, I'm not sleeping on the futon…" the grandson began, but whatever he wanted to say, his grandpa cut in, his voice booming throughout the house.

"**What? **You're not offering a girl the good bed? Where is your pride in being a man? Where is the discipline that I have struggled to get in your head all along?"

Now it was Nanji's time to cut in, a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"Well, she wouldn't accept sleeping in my bed, so what could I do? It's not like I didn't give her the choice…"

This seemed to heat the old man even more up, and he rambled on about his 'sense of pride', until he reached the conclusion.

"Then you show some solidarity and sleep on a futon as well! There is no way I'm allowing you to sleep in a bed with a girl sleeping on the floor!" And with that, he stomped out of the room, leaving the tea tray on the desk.

Nanji tried to reconcile with his grandpa, and argued bravely for his case

"But gramps, there's not enough space on the floor for two futons!" he was getting slightly frustrated with this whole situation now.

"Then make space!"

Marina sweatdropped at the reply, but thought she'd better try to calm the boy before her down.

"Don't worry about it Nan, we'll just let the futons overlap slightly, then it won't be a problem at all!" She smiled softly at him, and he seemed to surrender and just accept the way it had turned out.

"Tsk, okay, whatever… It's only for one night anyway…" he trailed off.

After having discussed their plan of action a little more, they went to get some sleep – or at least, they tried to. It seemed the futons were slightly more cramped than they had imagined them to be, and this caused them some awkward minutes, trying to settle in a position where they weren't pinned against each other. Some time went by with their futile efforts, and in the end, they had to surrender and just try not to seem too intimate with their sleeping position. It ended up in such way that the teens were facing each other, and Marina's head being slightly beneath Nanji's, their legs tangled up in order to not have to be stiff like a board.

When the old man came in to fetch the tea tray later that night, he saw them laying like that and decided it would be best not to wake them up. Besides, he could do without the tray until morning came. With that he decided to let them dream sweet dreams until the sun was up – or perhaps a little longer than that. He had, after all, never seen his grandson so close with a girl.

'_Maybe this will be a good time for him to learn to open up to other people… yes, indeed I will let them sleep for now…'_ he chuckled for himself and went to sleep aswell.

* * *

Marina was the first one to wake up. She never had been much of a morning-person, but she woke with the feeling something special was going to happen that day. It took a few minutes after she had woken until she realized the current situation; she was sleeping with a boy, practically sharing a futon's space. Even better, that boy was a certain raven-coloured, messy-haired boy whom she found quite nice. She also realized that their legs still were curled up and tangled together, and she turned slight pink at the smell of him. She cuddled up into his chest a little more and decided it would be okay to lay like that for 5 minutes more – and then she drifted off to wonderland, with a certain someone on her mind.

An hour later she was gently woken up by her "sleep-mate". He gently shook her shoulder, with a soft look on his face.

"Rina, you have to get up. Breakfast is being served in two minutes."

Much to her dissatisfaction, she realized she wasn't cuddled up next to him anymore, and decided she might as well get some grub down before taking off. She knew it would be a long time till she would get homemade jam again. She rose from the bed, and still wearing her sleeping attire, she went out for breakfast, feeling very much at home in the little cozy cottage.

Once she had reached the kitchen area, both Nanji and his grandpa was sitting at the table, looking slightly amused at her groggy look.

"Well well, if it isn't the sleepy princess – good morning sunshine!" The raven-haired boy's voice dripped with sarcasm, but still, the blunette found the comment a little sweet, coming from him.

All he got as a reply was a groan as a zombie-fied girl sat down next to him and reached for some bread.

Nanji's granddad didn't let the little scene pass unnoticed, and he smirked to himself, having an idea about how the next few months would turn out. Still, he didn't utter a word, letting the teenagers find the path they were going to walk themselves.

* * *

After having breakfast and showering, they got geared up and stood at the front porch of the little house. The old man was waving them off as they head out into the unknown world that awaited them.

All he knew was that he had settled for a mountain somewhere, with no possibilities for contacting him, or anyone else for that matter. And that was all he needed to know.

His grandson was finally taking his place in the world. And he had a terrific friend with him.

* * *

So, I think I'll do like a "3 random things about me" at the end of each chapter. Feel free to ask me questions, and I'll put them here at the bottom of the chapter! :)

**Random facts about me:**

I'm a boy in my first year of college  
I like to eat, and never gets fat! – hmm… nice…  
I'm not very good at sports, but I excel at archery, hiking and table tennis. Lol.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **  
Hey there guys and gals! Another chappie fresh out of the oven, free of charge! :D  
Now that aint a bad deal, is it? Maybe even worth a review? =^_^=  
Actually, this one has almost been ready for release since Tuesday, but because I thought it would be better to get some sort of regularity and rhythm in the releases, I've held it back and thought of a little more to write about in the later chapters.  
I'm still looking for someone to take me up on the offer of having a little random section at the bottom of this blipperidoo, so come on... you know you wanna .. ;)  
I'll continue with my random facts until someone volunteers, now you're warned! XD Or give me a good idea to how I can "bond" with you guys... if anyone follows this story on a regular basis, it would be cool for me to let you guys get an idea of who I am, as a person! ^_^ Enough with the rambling, read on for the story!

* * *

"Okay, let's settle here tonight. It looks like there's a storm coming, and we don't wanna get caught up in a forest like this..."

Nanji "the tour guide" stopped up, sending a doubtful gaze towards the sky.

"Yeah, i'll find a clearing for the tent, then you can go and find us some firewood" Marina replied, eager to stop walking for the day. They had been wandering for about a week, mainly going through the thickest of forests, and Marina had somewhat gotten used to this way of living. To her companions obvious surprise, she was actually quite good at living like this – and namely, cooking over open fire. She rummaged about in the nearby area, searching for a good, plane, clear spot for their tent to be in.

'_God forbid it to be sloping' _she thought moodily, '_or one of us would end in the others bed'_

She pictured the scene for her inner eye, and suddenly it didn't seem as bad. She decided that maybe she just couldn't find a campsite that wasn't sloping at least a little, and went for a slightly sloping area. It didn't need to be so big, since they were using a two-man tent. She recalled him explaining to her why it was such a small tent where they would get slightly cramped. The raven-haired boy had said that it would have been nice with a 3-man tent, but it would weigh more and use more of the precious little space in his backpack. She knew she couldn't complain – he was carrying the tent, most of the food, and some other useful equipment. She had her cloth, and some minor stuff.

'_Such a gentleman...'_ she thought dreamily.

That was when said boy came back after finding firewood. He raised an eyebrow at what should have been their tent. Marina was standing with it, hardly even trying to get it set up. And the spot she had chosen was a tad slopey, he saw. He voiced his thoughts,

"Marina, aren't you going to set it up? And what's with the slanty spot?"

Her ears turned slightly red, probably of shame, he figured, and she replied,

"It's not _slanty_ at all! This spot is perfectly fine!" She exclaimed, having that stubborn look on her face that Nanji had grown to know over the past week.

"Okay, okay... Whatever you say..." He gave in.

It didn't take long for them to get the tent ready, put their stuff in it, and get a good fire going. By the time night fell, they were eating and chatting, both clearly in a better mood. A loud sigh could be heard from the seasoned traveller.

"It's amazing what a cozy fire and a tent like this can do to you. It really is something else..." his voice trailed off, and he looked thoughtful up into the night sky. The blunette, who sat on the other side of the fire, gave him a thoughtful look.

"Hey Nan, you've travelled alot, haven't you?" It wasn't as much a question as it was a statement, so she continued before he got a chance to answer.

"Could u tell a story? It could be nice to hear some of the experiences you've had while travelling like this." She smiled encouragingly at him when he looked at her.

"I guess..." He looked thoughtful for a minute before he began. It didn't take long for Marina to listen, spellbound to his tales of what seemed like old history, and with just the right twist of fantasy so it wouldn't be boring.

When he was done, Marina looked at him with stars in her eyes.

"Got one more of those stories?" she asked with hopefulness in her voice.

Nanji gave her a slightly amused smile before standing up and dusting himself off.

"Naah, it'll have to wait till tomorrow." He gave her a smile. "Let's get some rest, we're gonna need it for tomorrow."

Agreeing, Marina went with him into the tent, and they both crept down in their sleeping bags. After saying their goodnights, they both quickly fell asleep.

* * *

When Marina woke up, she found that she was laying rather uncomfortably

'_Well that's wierd...'_ she thought, _'I wasn't this uncomfortable when I went to bed last night.'_

She opened her eyes to find an unamused Nanji looking up at her.

"Told you this spot was slanting..." he said, before pushing her off of him and went out into the morning air, leaving the now wide awake Marina to her own thoughts.

'_Oh my bitbeast, did I just spend a whole night __on top__ of Nanji?" No way that could have happened! I would have woken up – wouldn't I?'_ The doubt in her mind nagged her, and she had the feeling there was a good reason why Nanji was a bit cranky. She decided she'd better get up and help him, so he wouldn't get more reasons to get angry at her.  
Once they had gotten some grub and packed up, they went on into the deep forest.

'_If this hadn't been a race with the time and those underground bastards,' _she thought moodily, still affected by the whole morning situation which seemed to have evolved into a war of silence,_ 'this might have been quite nice. I should camp more in the future.'_

Yeah, camping was definitely a thing for her. Every now and then they would take a break from walking and practise their blaiding for a while. Nanji had told her that she needed to bond with her bitbeast in order to call it forth, and that could only happen through battles; she needed to convince it to help her by showing it she wasn't a pushover. So she tried. And she tried. And, well, yeah, she tried a little more. But in the end, she never got that same feeling as last time.

'_I need to get this right, or I won't be able to help anyone! Why won't it just work?'_ Her patience was running low, and she slumped down on the ground and pouted in protest to it all. She didn't notice her sparring partner nearing her, and when he plopped down next to her and sighed, she almost had a heart attack.

"I'm sorry I got so angry at you this morning. It wasn't really your fault, and I kind of knew it was going to happen. My apologies." His voice was just above a whisper, and now when she got such a close look at him, she could see he was exhausted.

"No worries, I guess I should'a listened to you when you said it was slopey..." she tried to sound happy, but somewhat failed at it.

"What's exhausting you like that? I have never seen you this tired before" she continued, this time with worry present in her voice.

"It's nothing, really... I just didn't sleep that much last night. Must've been a rock in my back or something..." his voice trailed off, and his eyes began to close slightly. Marina could see he was fighting to keep from falling asleep right then and there.

"... I just need half an hour, then I'll be good to go..." and with that, his head rested on the blunette's shoulder and he fell asleep.

The girl was totally confused the first ten seconds. Then, realizing what had just happened, she smiled and slung an arm around his shoulder.

"Sweet dreams.." her voice was lowered, so as to not wake up the boy on her shoulder. She had to admit, seeing him in that state, resting on her shoulder like that, he was quite cute. He made a quiet sound that told her he was deeply asleep, and she closed her eyes and let her thoughts flow.

* * *

When she opened her eyes again, she thought it would be best to get going, so she gently shook the still sleeping boy awake. He slowly opened his eyes and looked very disoriented and groggy. The blue-eyed girl couldn't help a mental giggle, but she made sure not to let it show. They got up, got their gear on, and continued.

* * *

It was some hours after noon, and Nanji perceived the end of the forest. He turned around to tell his companion, but all he saw was a blue stripe zooming past him, towards the freedom of air above their heads. When he caught up to her, she was looking miserable. Nanji almost felt bad for letting her expectations down, because everything she could see in front of her was a mountainside. A very steep mountainside. And the road they were going to follow was a whole different story.  
This seemed to be the last drop to make the blue-haired girl's patience slip.

"What in the world is this?" she exclaimed, turning her attention towards the boy who by now had caught up to her.

"This..." he said, "this is the path that we will follow for the rest of the day. Come on, don't wanna be walking when sunset comes. Let's get up there as soon as possible and get it set up properly."  
So, with a smile in Marina's direction, he began walking towards the mountain path.

"You call that a path?" She whined, "It's hardly even there! How can it be a path?" she was now in her argue-mode, and the raven-haired boy could feel it too. He knew the only way to calm her down was to do, or say, something she didn't expect. So he did.

"Well, your breasts are hardly there either... Still, you can't say you're not a girl, now can you?" he looked at her through the corner of his eye to see her response, but the funny thing was; there was none! There was literally no response at all, and she just stood there, looking like he had punched her square on the nose. It took a few moments for the comment to sink in, and when it did, she reacted like a bursting balloon. Indignation, surprise; even a slight laugh. And then she began charging at him, her hands flailing around above her head. Nanji, however, just laughed and began to trot up the mountain path. It didn't take long for her to give up on getting revenge, but in between her wheezing for air, she managed to throw a threat or two at him.

"You just wait till I get my hands on you!" she made a few curses under her breath, but Nanji didn't seem to be bothered by it.

* * *

They continued up the mountainside until they finally reached a little plateau. Well, that is, Nanji reached the plateau – Marina was somewhere on the mountainside, making her way up to where ever he was planning to stop. It was easy enough, really; the path only led in one direction, and there were not a single path that led to the one they were on at the moment. When she finally reached the plateau, Nanji had already set up the tent, started a fire and gathered some water.

She looked at him with grateful eyes, almost crying of a mix of exhaustion and gratefulness.

She tried to genuinely thank him, but it somehow ended up wrong, so all she managed to say was

"thankyounanchan", and then she went in to rest for a while in their tent until dinner was served.

Nanji looked in the tent's direction for a moment or two, then shrugged and went back to cooking. Quick as the boy was, he had figured the once energetic girl would be tired after that walk, so he had cooked something a little better than the usual stew; meat. Fresh meat that wasn't cut into tiny bits, but actually in one piece. The raven-haired cook couldn't seem to remember when they last had had that,

'_But then again, we have only been on the road for a little more than a week.'_ He reminded himself. Shaking his head clear of thoughts, he went in to get the sleepy girl in the tent. When he got in, he almost had a fit of laughter. There she was, lying on the grass, using her backpack as pillow, sleeping like a little kid. When he finally woke her up, his eyes were glazed from keeping his laughter from mocking her. She didn't seem to notice, and all the day's insults and threats were forgotten once she saw what he had cooked up for them.

"Meat!" she almost yelled, not daring to believe what she saw was real.

Her eyes seemed to drain every bit of taste and substance out of the meat, so much did she stare. Nanji couldn't help but chuckle at her behaviour.

"You know, when they say 'feast your eyes', I don't think they mean it like that... You're going to drain all the taste out of it!" he laughed. "Alright, lets dig in!"

* * *

Today, Marina was up early. Even before her dark-eyed companion and she were pretty sure that was a first.

'_Gotta get some practise in before breakfast!' _she told herself. _'I'm going to show Nanji that I'm worth a bitbeast, and I'm going to show Tamonki that I'm worthy of __it__!'_

She set up her launcher and fired her beyblade, doing some maneuver-practise with some of their kitchen ware she had scattered in the grass. When Nanji saw it, however, he didn't get too happy with her. The pot which had been smacked out in the dirt, possibly after a failed attempt to do a quick turn around it, was supposed to be the container of their now postponed breakfast.

"Now go in to the forest, find the river I told you about yesterday, and fetch some water so we can get all this stuff cleaned up again." Nanji scolded her.

"Yeah yeah, okay..." the blunette's shoulders hang in defeat.

* * *

Nanji had went in for another quick nap, while Marina had gone out to find said river, but she had a hard time finding it.

'_Well, I never was good at navigating'_ she thought ruefully.

She searched for almost an hour before she heard the sound of flowing water. She ran up a little hill towards the sound, having gotten pretty annoyed at the river for being so concealed. As she ran up the hill she noticed how there didn't seem to be any water down from the hill. She discarded the thought, thinking she was simply being over thinking things. Right after she ended her string of thoughts, she got up to the top of the hill – or so she thought. What she really found was nothing; not even solid ground under her feet, as she tried to skip to a halt, but found the grass still wet from the morning dew. She slid across the last bit of grass and out into the gorge. She hastily tried to reach the edge of the little cliff she had been on just a second earlier, but found it too crumbly to get a good grasp on, so she fell. Her mind went blank from fear, and the only thing she could sense was the sensation of falling, and the gravity pulling at her gut. She felt like she was falling for an eternity, just waiting for it to end as suddenly as it had started. And it did. For a moment she was hanging in the air, the next moment she was lying in the water, getting washed away by the strong current. By this point, however, she had gone unconscious and had no idea what was going on and where she was being taken.

She would soon find out, though.

* * *

Like my little cliffhanger? :D I wanted so badly to try and make one x)  
Hope the cliffy keeps you guys pumped for the next chappie! :D

**Random 3 facts about the author:**

I study Japanese at a night-school-course  
I hardly do any homework (Tip: Do NOT copy – it is highly stupid! _)  
I'm not in a relationship

Okay, so next time I'll have my friend write 3 things that he thinks describe me. Look forward for whatever he brings up! :D


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Im terribly sorry for the long wait, but I have had tons of hand-ins this past 2 weeks, and a good friend of mine, who was in the same class as me, got kicked out of college, so there has been some emotional knots too, so writing fanfiction wasn't really on the top of my to-do list ^_^; Sorry about that...

As to make up for the incredibly late update, I'll begin to do my other little "corner" at the bottom until one of you guys volunteer, and I'll start by telling a bit about about the names, the origin of them and stuff like that... Just for those who wants a little bit more than a story to read ;)

So, for now, I'll try to get the next update out quicker than this one.. shouldn't be too hard.. xD  
Teaser: I know I haven't had any real blaiding in the story lately, but it'll come in the next chappie! :D

* * *

The raven-haired boy shifted his weight uncomfortably. It had been too long. He glanced at the sun, even though he knew what it would tell him. Hours. Many hours. And the river wasn't more than a 20-minute walk from the camp, and that was if you took yourself plenty of time. He began to get annoyed at the whole situation.

'_Where has she gone to? Should I go check on her? Naah, then she'll think I worry about her...'_  
"ARGH, WHAT TO DO?"

He stared hard at a tree for a minute, and when he was sure it had lost its soul, he turned his back to the camp and began walking towards the river he had pointed out for the missing girl just a few hours ago.

His worry made him fasten up his pace, and it didn't take long for him to arrive at the site. He was standing just before the river, looking into the huge cliff that shaded the river from the southern side. Seeing as she wasn't there, he began to walk around the area, looking for some sign of her; most importantly, a sign of her presence at the location. If he couldn't find that, he knew he would have to search the entire mountainside. The thought didn't please him. He knew just about how big this mountain actually was – and there was no way he could search it all in a week, let alone half a day!

Before he realised it, he had made his way to the other side of the lake, and he now stood at the southern side. He was just about to turn back, thinking she wouldn't reach the river from that direction, when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

'_Something',_ he thought, _'something isn't quite right here...'_

He turned his body and gave it all his attention while looking over the cliff that towered over the river. That was when he saw it.

'_Oh shit... that can't be...'_ He instantly rushed over to the edge if the crag and bent down.

'_This is definitely... Yes, there's no mistake. These are skid marks. Could she have somehow run over the edge? But that's so stupid – why would she even __do__ that?'_ He followed the invisible trail he thought up with his eyes, and looked down at the river.

'_Well, it sure does seem possible... And she is a klutz after all'_ he sweatdropped at the thought. Then something else caught his eye, and he rushed down to the river again, this time attempting to jump across it. He failed, however, and managed to get soaking shoes and wet pants. But he didn't take notice of it, he kept staring at the river bank before him. The gravel there was still soaked. Thanks to the shade provided by the cliff, the sun's rays had not been hitting the rocks, and the moisture hadn't vaporized. There had definitely been a huge splash around there. Nanji now knew what had happened – but how was he going to deal with it? He knew there could be wild animals in the forest at night, and he doubted she had found a house on this part of the mountain. Without thinking any further, he let the river's current drag him along, and he kept his eyes peeled for any signs of his lost companion.

* * *

A certain raven-haired boy was sitting on the edge of a mere, having been dragged all the way to the end of the river. He looked around, trying to pinpoint the location. It came as a big shock to him when he realised that he had no idea where he was. He got up and started to look around curiously.

'_Now, if I were a scared and lonely girl, where would I go?...'_ he pondered.

He walked around like a blind man, trying to find some sort of sign for him to follow. It began to rain, first lightly, but it soon turned into something pretty fierce.

'_Great, I'll have to find cover or I'll catch a bad cold'_

He resolutely began to walk in one direction, and after a few moments he found a cave which he reasoned to be deserted, seeing as there were no signs of animal inhabitants.

'_Yush, at least I can find __something__..' _He peeked inside just to be on the safe side, and his eyes widened as he saw what he had actually found along with the cave.

"Marina!" Quick as a flash he was over the slumped corpus, carefully caressing her to see if she was injured anywhere.  
"Dammit, you're way too cold – hold on, I'll get us a fire going..." He talked just as much to calm himself as to calm her, and she hardly even seemed to notice his presence. He wrapped his jacket around her legs, and went out in the rain to get some firewood. When he returned a few minutes later, he had his arms full of semi-dry wood. It took him a couple of tries to get a fire going with his flint and steel, but once it was going he nursed it up and made a decent campfire. He then cautiously lifted her cold body up and placed her in front of the fire, wrapping his arms around her from behind and began to rub upper of her arms. After some time of rubbing, she finally got her blood flowing, and that seemed to waken her up a bit. She began to look around, and it didn't take long for her to realise that she was sitting up against Nanji's chest. She quickly pulled away, and her cheeks flushed with a slightly pink colour. The raven-haired boy didn't seem to take much notice of it, however, so she slumped down next to him again. They sat and stared at the fire for some time, until the blue-eyed girl couldn't ignore her screaming guts anymore, so she broke the ice and asked a little slowly

"Hey.. uhm... Nanji – do you have anything to eat? I haven't had anything since dinner last night..."

She could feel the blush creep over her face once again, as the male blader looked at her for a few seconds, then he stood up and went for the jacket that was now laying on the cave floor, discarded when he had brought her to the fire.

"I think there are some biscuits in my pocket somewhere..."

He began to rustle with the jacket's many pockets, until he finally found what he was looking for and threw a box of biscuits at her.

"Damned pockets... There's too many of them!" He said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I always wondered how you could keep order in them – I guess you can't." The female replied back, a sly smile creased her face now.

"I suppose so, but it has loads of other neat functions – a duvet, for example..." The comment was meant to be joking, but instead of laughing like he thought she would, her eyes began to tear up, and with random sops she replied,

"Im ... such a klutz ... aren't I? ... I bet you ... had to search a lot just to ... find me.." Her head was facing the floor, and her shoulders kept shaking for a while.

The male blader was totally speechless and taken aback by the sudden change of mood. He tried to say something comforting and assuring, but all he could muster was a few sounds with no real meaning. Instead, he closed the distance between them and embraced her, hoping his actions could speak the words he could not himself. To his surprise, it seemed to work prettywell, and soon they were sitting by the fire once again, her resting in his lap and snoozing lightly with her head rested his chest. Only when she woke up did he move. He positioned himself against the cave wall so he could get some rest too, and with Marina on his lap and in his embrace, they both drifted off to dreamland.

* * *

The sun had been up for some hours when they finally woke up. The blunette was still dozing off, but when Nanji decided to stand up, she didn't really have anything to say, as she was still sitting on top of him.

"You know, if people ask, this didn't happen..." the dark-eyed boy said, his face turning away from her so she couldn't see his features. What she didn't know was that he simply tried to hide the blush spreading across his face as he realised how much time she had just spent on top of him.

'_I ought to get a medal for self-control'_, he thought to himself.

After washing their faces in the nearby pond, they went in the direction of their base camp without much talking. They were both too busy thinking about the night they had just spent...

* * *

Sorry for the majorly rushed ending... I kinda wanted to get this chapter done and uploaded x)  
Okay! So I promised I would have my friend's point-outs about my character in this issue, and here they are!:

- He's a slacker... No discussion needed.

- He won't let others rule his lifestyle

- And he's a funny guy to be around with

So there ya have it folks! I know that some of these already have been told, but this was the first 3 things he got on his mind, so I stuck with them.. :P

Now, for my new "**Author's corner**!":

This week I'll explain the origin of the name of Nanji's bitbeast; Sinopa.

In old Native American, "Sinopa" meant "fox", which at the time went to be a popular nickname for the Indians.

Later, the name was used for a baby in "modern history", and since then it has become more and more popular as a female name!  
So, the fox-bitbeast Sinopa makes sense... in a way.. :P

Alright, next time I'll cover the mysterious boy's name! Look forward to it! :D


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